


Tales of a Guardian

by Lady_Hawkmoon



Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen, Humor, Mental Health Issues, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-18 17:51:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9396407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Hawkmoon/pseuds/Lady_Hawkmoon
Summary: Everyone talks about the guardians like they are either crazy or big damn heroes. I know the truth. My name is Leah Stansfield, a beta guardian, chosen in the first year that the ghosts were sent out to find their guardians and bring them back to protect the last remaining city. I’ve come to understand that we were chosen for our abilities to control something called the light, or as I call it, space magic. You see, I was dead for so long that I’m not sure the people here know about the period I came from. Most of the information from before the golden age is lost, and I was alive long before then. I hope that by telling my story people will understand that the Guardians have lives and we are real beings outside of our unusual roots





	1. Eyes Up Guardian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Traveler has send out Ghosts to find Guardians to protect the last safe city on Earth. Another Ghost has found its Guardian, and the two of them must find a way back to the City in order for them to survive.

**Location: Old Russian, Earth**

**Guardian: Leah Stansfield**

**Call sign: Lady**

 

A small robot floats over the cars on the highway searching for long dead bodies, scanning each for some sign of their potential. It had been years searching for whoever would become their guardian, and while others had found theirs ghost was still hoping to find theirs before another year passes. The fallen have been here recently and ghost can still hear the cries of dregs scavenging around him.

“No…no…no…wait…. no.” With each body scanned Ghost feels as though the chances of finding the guardian becomes smaller. Then one of the bodies gets their attention, they fly over to a body with tattered clothes that hadn’t been scavenged. A quick scan showed that it was a woman, and that she had traces of light. “There you are.” Ghost looked around before setting to work, a light shooting out of them and covering the body and restoring who they hoped was their Guardian. “Eyes up Guardian,” they said softly and excited that they finally found the person who would become their Guardian.

As first words to wake up to, eyes up guardian weren’t the worst, but Leah had no idea what was going on. All she could remember was her death, trying to protect someone…the memory slipped away before she could fully grasp it. “Where am I?” Looking down at her hands and where her bullet wounds should have been, but there was no blood. She remembered going to a highway, but it looked like nature had reclaimed the highway, even the cars were long abandoned. “What…how am I?” The floating robot twirled and kept babbling about something before the two heard an animal cry in the distance.

“We have to go.” Ghost entered the helmet he had created for her and took a second to search for an exit. “There is a ship on the other side of the wall, but this is Fallen territory so I need you to move fast.”

“The Fallen? How did I get a helmet and a suit? What year is it? How am I not dead? Wha….”

“I can answer your questions later, but I need you to move faster than this if the Fallen aren’t going to catch you and kill both of us.”

With that information, Leah’s questions stopped and she looked around for her weapon not finding anything left of it, “looks like I’ll use old reliable if they find us.”

“Old reliable?”

“My fists, little buddy, I can always rely on them.” Leah pushed herself up and started walking toward the highlighted entrance the robot wanted her to walk through. Hearing the cries getting closer she picked up the pace and ran toward the entrance. She made her way through what the robot called the wall, the lights flickering and going out as the robot did something and created a beam of light, like a flashlight. A box stood out to her and she opened it luckily finding an auto rifle, as if some outside force was trying to help. Quietly and methodically Leah scanned each room before entering and disposing of targets as they dropped through the ceiling or tried to jump at her.

Once through the wall Leah had another look at what was left of the Earth she knew. The dilapidated tanks did not bode well for what happened here. “I don’t feel comfortable running through this area. The cover is spread out and with those things after me I’m not sure I have enough ammo to make it to your escape plan and clear anything in the way. Besides, I have an auto rifle and a sniper rifle, and I’m more of an in your face kind of fighter.”

“We can figure it out as we go. I think that the tanks will work for cover and if you run fast enough we should be able to out run the Fallen behind us. Besides, you have killed everything so far, I think you can handle a few more.” At least the floating robot was confident in her ability to get them back to wherever it was taking her. Maybe she should have asked more questions before trusting a small floating robot that brought her back to life and dragged her across what he said was Fallen territory to something that he called an escape plan. Honestly, it was a bit late to doubt the little robot, but she wanted to form a mental list of questions for whoever she was being taken to see.

Leah kept her gun aimed ahead and remained low, moving from cover to cover, and making her way to a building using the outside wall and sliding along it. A loud sound came from the sky as large space ships dropped into view like a scene from Star Wars. “Fallen ships? Why are they this close to the surface? Move!”

“You don’t need to yell in my ear. I think I can figure out what we need to do.”

“Just move.”

At the same methodical pace, Leah made her way through the area keeping low and killing each Fallen she came across. The ships may have dropped off more Fallen, but they didn’t live long once they hit the ground. In the middle of the buildings Leah notices what looked like a cross between a spider and an AT-AT lying on the ground in the same shape as the tanks. It did not sit well with her that so much of this area was dead. “What happened here?” She whispered under her breath, taking a second to touch what she would later know as a walker, and confirming that what was happening wasn’t a dream. Then she moved on continuing to follow the directions of her robot and killing the creatures she came across until they found the jump ship.

The only thing standing between her and an escape from the area was a small force of Fallen lead by a bigger guy that had an aura around him.

“If you focus you can produce a grenade every few seconds. It might come in handy here. Just take a breath, and use the light to shape a grenade.” Seemed simple enough, before she entered the larger room she hid against the wall, took a breath, and pictured a grenade. After a few moments, the flashbang grenade coalesced in her hand and she threw the small ball into the room, under the feet of a group of confused dregs. With the distraction in place she entered the room taking out other floating robots she had seen before, and vandals before focusing her attention on the creature that looked like the leader of the group.

“I really hope you can get this thing to fly.” She commented rolling between cover as the big guy shot at her with what spread like a shot gun. “Oh, come on, there is no reason for this kind of hostility. I don’t even know you.”

“I don’t think they speak English or care what you feel about this situation.”

“I can try.” She muttered before rolling out again and finishing off the Captain. “Coast is clear, let’s get this jump ship going so I can ask all of my questions and get the hell out of here.” Ghost came out and scanned the ship trying to gage what shape it was in. “Will it fly?”

“It will get us to the city, but not off the planet.”

“Good enough for me. Let’s get out of here before our new friends decide to attack me all at once.” As if on cue a bigger creature came through a hole in the wall, and the ship took off from the cables, taking Leah with it.


	2. Yer a Guardian, Lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Leah’s resurrection, she has her first encounter with the patrons of the tower and finds out more information about what her purpose is as a Guardian, as well as getting an armor and gun upgrade.

**Location: The Last City, Earth**

**Guardian: Leah Stansfield**

**Call Sign: Lady**

 

Flying is tougher than Leah thought. Ghost did their best to teach her, and they didn’t have to fly for long, but it only showed Leah how out of place she was. It wasn’t until she saw the city that she understood just how woefully lost she was, the earth she left did not have a floating moon above a city, there were not ships flying around, and it definitely didn’t have walls and a tower. They headed toward the tower in the center of the bustling city. After landing Leah opened the door and hopped out of the jump ship, landing and taking in her surroundings. “Where are we?” She asked ghost as they flew out beside her.

“Welcome to the Last City.”

“Ok, but what country are we in? Where on Earth are we?”

“The Last City”

“Really, the _Last_ City” she added emphasis on the last, unable to believe that this was the last city left on Earth.

“No, we call it the Last City because we all decided that this was the last city we were going to build.” Ghost rolled its eye and kept flying forward toward a woman who was currently walking toward Leah.

“You don’t have to be sassy. I think I’m entitled to some disbelief, you did just resurrect me!”

The blonde woman looked over the jump ship before speaking up. “You’re missing the warp drive needed to get off the planet. For now, ya’ll can go back and for between the city and Old Russia, but not anywhere else.” She looked down at a tablet in her hand, “you need to see Zavala and Banshee before you leave.”

Ghost spoke up for Leah, trying to keep her from bothering Amanda. “I’ll show her around and get her to where she needs to go.” Then he flew toward the door as Leah followed.

“What is going on?” Leah whispered, there were robots sweeping the floor, ghosts whooshing around, and people with the same armor as her running around.

“I’ll get you an audience with the speaker after we get a warp drive. Just follow my lead and I promise you’ll get answers.” Ghost flew past the Cryptarch and down the stairs. Leah was still overwhelmed from everything around her, the man in the shop had blue skin, when did the Smurfs become real and tall. Robots were everywhere, some swept the floor, one was selling weapons, and others ran around with ghosts like she did. Looking toward the railings she had her first view of the city. It was beautiful from this height, a river ran through the center, ships flying everywhere, and she was standing on the tallest building. “Leah, we have to talk to Zavala.”

“Right, I’m on my way.” She turned around and followed her ghost down the stairs to a table with three figures arguing over a map.

“This is Commander Zavala, Cayde-6, and Ikora Rey. They are the leaders of the Vanguard, and you report to them now.”

Commander Zavala was a large man with blue skin, just like the man at the shop above. He looked over at Leah and nodded. “You will report to me. I oversee the titans, and from the armor and grenade, you are a titan. What is your name?”

“Leah Stansfield, I guess I just started today, Sir.”

“Good, I have better armor for you if you’re going back out there.” He took a second to look around at the other two by the table before motioning for Leah to join him by the back of the room. The back of the room was floor to ceiling windows looking outside of the City and toward the mountains. “As a Titan you will need to protect this City with your life. Can you do that Leah?”

“I barely know this city, sir. Why do I need to protect it with my life? I don’t know what’s going on.”

The large man placed his hand on her shoulder, instantly making Leah feel smaller. The look on his face was a mixture between concern and understanding. “There is evil out there, you have already met the fallen, and there is more. They all want to break down the walls and kill the civilians inside. It is your job, as a guardian, to go out there and help fend off the darkness. The longer you stay here, the more you will learn about the city. For now, how about you do this to protect yourself. The Last City is the last safe place on earth, you protect it and you can live here.” Zavala handed her a new set of armor and pointed upstairs. “Banshee has weapons for you to choose from. It’ll keep you alive longer if you are properly equipped.”

Leah had so many questions for this wise blue man, but she wanted to take his advice for now. She would stay here, learn about the city, and make her judgment later. At least now she would have equipment for fighting the weird creatures she had seen before. “Thank you, Commander, I’ll come back to talk to you later.”

“Good luck Ms. Stansfield, I look forward to that talk.” He returned to the table and the conversation he had left with the other two individuals. Ghost looked at her and two walked out of the room, and back upstairs.

“That wasn’t too bad.”

“Trust me Leah, the light guided me to you. You are going to get through this. I’m not sure if you’ll be very good at it, but you’ll be able to help.”

“Thanks ghost, love the vote of confidence.” The two made their way to the store front covered in guns. “I’m guessing this is Banshee.”

“You’re finally here. It took you long enough. I have some beginner guns for you. What do you want?” Banshee was less imposing than Zavala, and had less patience. He laid out an auto rifle, pulse rifle, and a hand cannon for Leah to go through. She looked over each and settled on the hand cannon.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Yeah, yeah, just don’t go and get yourself killed. Come back and maybe I’ll let you look at better stuff.” He picked up the other weapons and put them back up as Leah walked back to the hanger.

“Who is the ship lady?”

“She is Amanda Holliday, the shipwright.”

“Is that all of the names I need to know?”

“No, but you should be able to learn them as you go.”

“Sure thing. I’ve never been good with names though, you might need to remind me.”

“I am a Ghost, created from the light of the traveler. I bring you back if you die in battle. Without me you wouldn’t be here. I am not your address book to remember names. If you want to learn history, hack into a computer, or come back to life then I’ll gladly be here to help you.”

Leah rolled her eyes, the ghost had been helpful before but was back to being an ass. Looked like she would have to learn how to get on their good side if she was going to survive. “So, is the jump ship ready to go to Old Russia?”

“It is, but you better keep it in one piece and it still needs a warp drive.” Amanda motioned to where the drive would most likely be placed on the ship as she spoke.

“I know where we can find one.” Ghost floated over to the ship and looked it over. “Looks good Amanda, if we get the drive can you install it.”

“Of course, I can. I can fix anything that’s wrong with a ship or a sparrow. Wanna take your ship for a spin?”

“Sure.” The enthusiasm from before lost as she considered more questions she didn't have time to ask. Ghost started the ship as Leah quickly put the armor on over her suit, and placed the hand cannon in the holster on the side of her thigh. The ship transported her up, or teleporter her, she still wasn’t sure how she got inside the ship, but that was for another time. It was time for another mission.


	3. Beam Me Up, Ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leah goes on her first official mission from the Vanguard to find a warp drive. If she succeeds then she will prove herself to the Vanguard, and can visit other planets whenever the need arises.

**Location: Old Russia, Earth**

**Guardian: Leah Stansfield**

**Call Sign: Lady**

 

Old Russia was different the second time around, or maybe it was that Leah felt prepared this time around. She knew what to look out for and had the power of grenades. This time she could appreciate the scenery without as much of a fear of death. She couldn’t feel the wind, but it moved the brush and torn red banners. Ghost had dropped her off on higher ground near a Cliffside that dropped into either a river or something that lead to a Sea. Large constructs creaked in the distance, as unseen creatures screeched and shifted.

“A guardian’s ship was recently shot down. If the Fallen haven’t gotten to it we could salvage some parts and find a warp drive.”

“I saw Amanda was selling ships. Why couldn’t I just buy a warp drive from her?”

“Treat this like a test Guardian, if you pass then people will train you, give you better stuff, and you’ll gain respect.”

She walked down toward a large building using the rocks and the building as cover from the creatures she could hear, but not see. It set her on edge knowing that something out there wanted to kill her, but she couldn’t see it. When the ship came into view she felt relieved.

“I’ll see what I can find.” Ghost flew to the ship and started scanning. “The warp drive is gone, it looks like the Fallen have scavenged this already, but I can go through their last transmission.” While waiting for them to process the data Leah hear a skiff. She frantically searched for where the threat was, spotted it, and prepared for the group of creatures that would drop out of it.

“Could you hurry?”

“Sorry, can’t hear you, doing important work.”

“Why couldn’t they give me a ghost that doesn't have an attitude?”

“Stop complaining and get to work.”

Leah gritted her teeth and walked toward the group running down the hill, she opened with a flash bang grenade catching most of them, then tried out her new hand cannon. It felt comfortable in her hand, before the auto rifle had done well, but with one head shot she brought down her foes. “You done yet?”

Ghost ignored Leah’s attitude. “They were working in the information hub below ground. If we head over there I can scan for where the warp drive was taken to.” The two of them moved back toward the building Leah had used for cover earlier, this time moving to the front. There were more creatures walking up the stairs. Quickly Leah decided to use a small building as cover instead of the rust covered trucks in front of it. She climbed to the top and took out her sniper rifle, lining up the shot and smiling. For some reason, it felt good to be needed, she couldn’t remember anything from her past, and wasn’t sure that she would, but right now, on a simple mission to get a warp drive, she felt like she was helping the people around her.

“See ya.” She whispered before making minced meat out of the low level Fallen milling around the building. Stowing the rifle on her back, Leah jumped off the building and walked downstairs with her hand cannon at the ready.

“This place looks cozy. Check the room behind the stairs, sometimes creatures of darkness keep plans, glimmer, and armor in chests laying around.”

“What is glimmer?”

“When you kill something, complete a bounty, or compete you earn a currency called glimmer. Chests give you glimmer as well as plans for ships to build if you’re lucky, but they also give you resources that you need to upgrade your armor. I can transport them onto your ship as you find them, so that you can use them later.”

“That seems a bit weird…are you taking this money off dead bodies?”

“No…yes…maybe? I’m not sure where it comes from, but when they die it appears.”

“Uh, cool, death money. How am I supposed to feel about that?”

“It’s called glimmer, and you don’t have to kill them if it bothers you that much, but they will still try to kill you.”

“Right, ok, let’s just keep moving.” She checked the room behind the stairs and just like Ghost said, there was a chest with glimmer and a metal leaf. Ghost disappeared into her hand and Leah moved further downstairs. The stairs met a short hallway with shadows following the creatures inside of the only room the hall lead to. Leah took a deep breath, steadying her hand as her mind raced. Zavala told her all of this was to protect people. Was it worth it? Who was she protecting? What was she protecting? Her thoughts distracted her from the mission, and continued to build with more questions.

Ghosts voice broke through and brought her back to reality. “Leah, are you ok? From the last couple of encounters, you have been faster than this on the draw.”

“Yeah, sorry, just thinking.” With that she turned the corner and took down her foes with ease, then walked over to the map in the back and released the ghost from her hand. “Here.” Why was it so easy to kill these creatures? She didn’t even know if they were evil. The only information she had was that they liked to shoot at her, and everyone she talked to said they were evil. Was that enough for her? For now, it had to do, but she needed answers when they got back to the tower.

“Our only hope is where we found our ship. We have to go back.”

“Go back to where that giant creature came out of the wall? The one I was very glad to get away from when we first escaped this area?” Leah deadpanned with a roll of her eyes and an expression that read 'you have got to be kidding me'.

“It’s very unlikely that the Archon is still there. Archons are high ranking individuals, and staying around an empty room is a waste of time.”

“Wanna bet that it won’t be there?”

“I don’t bet.”

“Let’s go little robot.”

With a huff and a mumbled, “Don’t call me that” Ghost disappeared back into Leah’s glove. If Ghost could sass her, then she could call them whatever annoying nickname she wanted. She made sure her hand cannon was reloaded before she left the safety of the downstairs and looked for any danger above. The stairs and truck area was clear, but near the cliff was another group standing around a beacon, waiting for someone to walk into their trap. It was easy enough to avoid them, from the groups position she could stay against the wall and walk north toward a building that had vines taking over what use to be an entrance and holes in the wall and ceiling with debris littering the floor. When she walked into the next room she stayed to the left side, skirting around a large hole in the floor from what she could only assume was a superhero landing. There was a section in the back of the room with desks and the lights flickering. She could hear creatures in the next room walking about, so she pulled out her hand cannon and tried to walk quietly down the stairs.

“I hope you’re ready for this, Leah. I feel Darkness in the area.” Even if Ghost hadn’t pointed it out she would have known, darkness clung to her vision, almost trying to leach whatever light was inside of her. The next area had enough cover for her to walk into without being seen. It was separated into three sections. The first was where she planned to hide for most of the fight, it was the first bit of the room she walked in to and had two entrances that led into the main large area she had fought in before. From here she could see most of the next room, could hold the entrances into her room, and knew that behind her was clear of any creature. Off to the right of the entrance area was a very small room she could use if she really needed to run, and in front of the entrance was a large room with columns that looked on the verge of collapse, large metal boxes that could be used for cover, and a large round hole in the front most wall when she had last seen the Archon. From her safe position, she looked around the room and only spotted vandals, dregs, and shanks. The Darkness still clung to her though, and she knew that meant the Archon was around, or might become a problem later.  

“I guess I’m ready,” not the most convincing battle cry, but it would do for now. Using the wall as cover from the blasts, Leah shot down the shanks first knowing they were more likely to enter her comfort zone. A stray blast from the dregs caught her shoulder, but she killed the rest of the group before registering that it hurt. But, she did not have time to complain, because a heavy thud came from the hole in the wall across the room as the Archon landed in the room.

“The Archon has the Warp Drive on his belt!” Ghost relayed to Leah excitedly, which would have been great news if she knew how to kill a creature that big. Right now, she was low on ammo, and the Archon looked like he would take more bullets than she had. She needed a plan. First, she used her grenade to disorient the group that came through the wall. Then she disposed of the smaller targets, only using a second bullet if she actually needed too. Luckily, the Archon couldn’t fit through the entrance into her section of the room. She did get hit a few times, but the armor seemed to take most of the damage. Now all that was left were two Vandals and the Archon, who still looked rather healthy.

“Ok, I have three bullets in my sniper rifle and a sad amount of ammo for my hand cannon.” Her voice tired as the adrenaline from the fight was wearing off. This needed to end before she was seriously hurt or ran out of ammo.

“How much is a sad amount of ammo? An exact amount will help with calculating your odds of survival.”

“If I tell you then I’m going to cry, and I don’t need that right now. That enough for your calculations?”

“Not really, but it does get factored in.”

“You are the worst side kick.” She grumbled as she took out her sniper rifle and fired the three bullets into the Archon, then switched to the hand cannon killing the two vandals and using the last few on the Archon. Even after all her shots the Archon was still standing. She needed it to die. Why didn’t it die? Her guns weren’t the only thing running on empty either, she should have waited to do this, two missions in one day was too much. “I’m going to do something stupid, but I want you to know…Ghost, you are the worst robot I have ever met and if I die I just really wanted you to know how useless your sass has been.”

“Your sentiments have been noted.”

Leah took a deep breath and prepared for her next plan. There was no going back once she ran in, so she needed to commit. “Ok, let’s do this.” She threw the grenade at the Archon, disorienting it as she ran in and punched it. Her punch did some damage, but not enough to take it down. Once it came back from the grenade she took a blast to her left shoulder and punched it again. When she was hit for the second time her vision started to go, and she slid behind a metal box for cover. “Shit,” there were only seconds for her to recover before she had to run behind a column nearby to avoid taking the full force of another blast. “I have one attack in me. Did you get any info on what will make the Archon go down?”

“If you punch him and use a grenade again that might take it down, or just make it mad.”

“I’ll take that chance.” Leah tossed another grenade at the feet of the Archon, but it dodged out of the way and kept firing at her. “Looks like I’ll go with plan B.” She took her sniper rifle and tossed it at the Archon’s face, forcing it to focus on catching the gun with one of its hands and distracting it as she tackled the Archon to the ground. Finally, she had the upper hand or so she thought. Archons had claws and while she was unloading punches on the Archon it was clawing at her. When it finally died, she looked like she had fought the Shredder and Jango Fett, and felt like it too. “Do you have healing powers?” She said from the ground, laying beside her dead foe for a needed breather.

“I don’t, but Guardians typically do. It will take a while though.”

“Of course, it will.” Slowly and sorely, Leah pushed herself off the ground and spotted a green glowing object on the ground near him. “What is that?”

“The Cryptarch decrypts those into weapons and armor for you to use. A green one means it’s better than the armor you're wearing now.” The Ghost stored it for her as she picked up a white engram that transformed into better gauntlets, which she kept to change into before she got back to the tower. Ghost left her gauntlets and scanned the warp drive. “You did good Leah. You survived a tough situation and finished the mission. Not many guardians get through their first mission without dying. The Speaker will be able to help you further once we get back.”

“Will I get to sleep?”

“If that’s what you need. I can send a message now for them to prepare options for you.”

“Thanks Ghost, maybe you aren’t as useless as I said you were.”

“I’m your Ghost Leah. You will be the only Guardian I ever have, and I will be the only Ghost you ever have. We’ll get to know each other, working together, and fighting together. I protect you, and you protect me. Together we’ll get through this, and together we will protect the city.”

"Sounds like we're married. Let’s get back before more show up, dear.” Ghost stored the warp drive for Amanda to work on and called the ship to pick them up. It was a long mission, but Leah would have to learn to carry ammo synths in the future. This time when they left the Fallen didn’t come out of the wall. Leah relaxed in the seat of her ship, letting Ghost do the driving as she tried to assess the damage from the fight. Hopefully her next mission wouldn’t end as hectically as this one did.


	4. Meet the Roommate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leah gets to see the city and find out where she will be staying while she fights the darkness.

**Location: The Last City, Earth**

**Guardian: Leah Stansfield**

**Call Sign: Lady**

 

After leaving her ship with Amanda, dropping off her armor for repairs with the Vanguard Quartermaster, and choosing civilian clothes Leah waited for her Ghost to get back from whatever it was doing. The Vanguard Quartermaster had pointed out a spot past the Dead Orbit guy and downstairs for her to wait, and she was glad he did. It was called the Guardian Lounge, people with tablets walked around the room, and three Guardians sat on couches around a table looking at a map. She had taken up residence on the other available couch away from the group. Still sore from taking a beating, it was nice to lay out on the couch and not move. After a few minutes, she started to doze off. “Leah, you ready to go?” Ghost was floating by her feet when her eyes opened.

“If there are so many guardians here, then why can’t I live on this couch?” Grumbling, but refusing to move from her current position.

“Our meeting with the Speaker has been moved to tomorrow, and they had an opening in the city for an apartment you’ll be living in. We can move you to a place that hopefully has medical supplies. I need to run a scan, make sure you’re healing abilities are working correctly.”

Groggily and with more effort than she ever hoped to exert, Leah pushed herself up from the couch and stretched. Stretching was a poor choice, joints popped, muscles screamed, and she felt exhausted, worse than before she had fallen asleep. “How long before I can go back to sleep?”

“The Vanguard is setting up what will be your possessions and by the time we get there they should be done. Also, you have a roommate and I recommend you talk to whomever it is since I’m not partnering with a rude guardian.”

“Oh my god,” Leah laid back down on the couch dramatically “nope, nope, nooooooope. I have met enough new people for the day. The Vanguard can set up, and after I hibernate for 50 years I’ll come off this couch to socialize again.”

“We are scheduled to appear in 45 minutes.”

“Then you’ll have to explain why we are 50 years and 45 minutes late.”

“Leah,” Ghost said authoritatively.

She groaned and pushed herself back off the couch, “Fine, let’s go.”

It took most of the 45 minutes to get into the city. The tower was located on the edge of the Last City, and was high up to keep Guardians separate from the rest of the City. Guardians went out to exotic locations, and it was safer if Guardians were separated from the city until they went through a detoxification process, removing any foreign organisms accidently brought back on the guardian. Once cleaned, Guardians could enter any part of the city. Leah followed Ghost, down streets, across a bridge and into the residential area of the city. It was shocking, to say the least. Before, the areas that she had seen weren’t as different from what she had been used to, the screens looked like tablets and sure, robots were new, but nothing looked as different as right now. The buildings towered above her, every street was packed with humans, robot people, and blue people, flying vehicles whizzed by, banners draped between buildings and hanging down others with symbols and bright colors, and it felt like everything was closing in on her. Each step was a fight, she was sore and her chest felt tight, each breath a struggle. Luckily, it didn’t take long before they were in an elevator and out of the crowded area.

“Do you know anything about my new roommate?”

“Dr. Kaeya Ymir, she works with the consensus, so you’ll be on your best behavior.”

Skipping over the dig at her behavior, “The consensus?”

“It’s the ruling body of the city.”

“Oh good, so I’m living with someone who has sway with the people in charge?”

“Are you planning on doing something illegal?”

“No, but I don’t even know what the rules of this place are. I don’t know anything about the world around me ghost.” Leah was frustrated, tired, stressed, and still felt like something was sitting on her chest, keeping her from breathing easy, and now there was a ringing in her ear and she was seeing black spots. The elevator opened on a floor with two doors, ghost led her to the door on the left, Leah made it out of the elevator and to the door before she dropped to the floor.

Everything hurt, and Leah didn’t want to open her eyes. She could hear two people talking, but they sounded miles away. She moved her arms to push herself up, and it felt as if she was moving through water. “Mom? It happened again?” She couldn’t remember anything from recently. The most prominent thing she could remember was from her past. Usually when she passed out her mother would have brought her to the hospital, but this wasn’t the hospital. The room she was in was unfamiliar, there were boxes piled against one wall to keep the floor clear, a rug covered the center of the smooth floor, and there was one closed door facing the bed and two doors open, one leading to a bathroom and the other a closet with more boxes. When she pushed herself into a sitting position, groaning as she moved her locked muscles, she noticed a window showing the world outside with the traveler, the tower, and the flying vehicles and remembered the previous day. Her mother was dead, her family was dead, and she was miraculously in the future. The door facing her bed opened, a woman and ghost came into the room.

“You’re awake, good, this is your new roommate Kaeya, and you need to rest more.” It took a few moments for Leah to register what ghost. While it was registering, she tried looked at the new person. The woman ghost called Kaeya was taller than Leah. Leah was around 5’5”, and this woman was most likely 5’9” or maybe a bit taller. She was lithe. Her long, wavy, black hair fell below her shoulder blades. It looked as though she had just finished a business meeting, because she was dressed in a black and red button up jacket, with a simple red blouse, black knee length skirt, and black boots. Leah blinked and looked down a herself. She had remembered wearing a brown leather jack, with a green plaid shirt, tan pants, black boots, and her gun holstered at her side. After many attempts, she had even been able to wrap her right hand and her other injuries from the fight. Now, she was in her tank top and a new pair of sweat pants with new bandages wrapped differently around her injuries.

“Sorry for the…” Her brain was still fogged as she spoke, and wasn’t thinking as much or as quickly as it usually did. “the thing that happened.”

“No, there is no need to apologize. Let’s focus on getting you better.” Kaeya smiled and walked over to her, before she started inspecting her injuries. “It’s your first day, right? You mentioned that this has happened before?”

“Yeah, I remembered my past.”

Ghost spoke up, most likely trying to be useful, but not knowing how to help. “Most guardians are warriors from previous ages, or at least the ones we have seen so far.”

“No, I never joined the military. I was really sick. There was something wrong with me.” Leah shook her head, and Kaeya placed her hand on her cheek moving her head to check on her eyes.

“You don’t have to recall it all right now. Your spill earlier was most likely anxiety or stress induced, and you were exhausted from fight, and on top of that you haven’t eaten at all. Ghost, warn the Consensus and Vanguard to supply other Ghosts with food to give to their Guardians when the wake.” Ghost looked at the two of them and left to do as she asked. “I’m going to get food and water. Just, lay down and relax. Do you remember if you were allergic to anything?”

“No allergies.”

“Good, I’ll be back with a sandwich then.”

“I remember liking peanut butter and jelly.” Kaeya smiled and nodded before leaving the room. Leah laid down, as she had been asked to. Everything was starting to return to her. She didn’t feel like she was moving through water, the ringing and lightheadedness was gone, and her breathing had returned to normal. A sandwich secured, water on her bedside table, and time to relax, maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as she thought it would be.


	5. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leah starts to remember more of her past, and gets some help from Kaeya.

**Location: Old Russia, and Last City, Earth**

**Guardian: Leah Stansfield**

**Call Sign: Lady**

 

_An alarm blares, the clock reading 5:00, and a hand snakes out from under a sheet and turns it off. With a yawn, Leah stretches, pushing the covers off her, and looks around taking a second before pushing herself out of bed and stumbling toward a Jack and Jill bathroom, where the other entrance is blocked by a sliding door. Everything goes black until Leah wakes up on the tile floor near the toilet, with her mother at the entrance._

_Her mother’s voice is panicked and urgent as she asks questions. “Leah? What happened? Did you fall asleep? We need to get you to the hospital! Paige, I need you to watch your sister.”_

_Leah pushes herself up and looks at the door with a blank stare. She doesn’t understand what’s happened or why her sister and mother are standing over her. “I came in here and…I don’t remember. Did I fall asleep?”_

_Her younger sister Paige stays away from the bathroom, leaning against the wall outside of it and peaking in occasionally to check on her sister. Paige is a tall sixteen-year-old, with long brown wavy hair and freckles covering her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She tries to sound calm, as she panics, afraid to look in and find her sister on the ground again. “Leah? I need you to snap your fingers so I know your still awake.”_

_“What?” Leah, confused by the fuss and panic from her family, stares at her fingers and has a hard time finding the energy and force to snap her fingers. The confusion only increasing as Paige starts to talk about when a classmate of hers has seizures they ask them to snap their fingers. “I can’t snap.” There is no frustration or weakness in Leah’s voice, only confusion and determination to figure out how to snap again, the lightheadedness affecting her ability to read the situation around her._

_Her mother, a woman shorter than both girls but with the same brown hair and freckles as Paige, walks back into the bathroom. “Ok, I have your list of medications, medical file, and insurance information in the car. We need to get to the hospital.” The older woman reaches out and helps Leah off the ground, leading her back through her room. Two steps into the room Leah feels a wave of wooziness and falls forward, passing out face first against the hard wood floors of her room. Paige and her mother yelling and panicking, but not able to keep her up. Leah wakes up moments later, finally realizing that something was wrong, but still not able to piece everything together because of the fogginess of her mind. Paige runs out of the room and toward the back of their home where the office was located, and their mother leans down to pick Leah up again crying. “You need to stay up Leah.”_

_“I’ll try again. I told you I felt weird last night.” The words came out of her mouth as slow as molasses. With her mother’s help, she makes it to the hallway before she falls, yet again, face first onto the hard wood floors. Strangely, she didn’t feel any pain from repeatedly face planting on the floor, which was most likely a bad sign. Paige reappears rushing with a wheeled office chair from the back room on the other side of the house. The two women help Leah into the chair, and push her out into the garage and toward a silver truck parked in the driveway. “Mom, why didn’t we call an ambulance?” The words still coming out slow and with more effort than talking typically was. Her mother focused on getting her into the truck and not what she asked, ignored her question and buckled her in. An orange folder sat in front of Leah, it held all her medical information from the past months and was always with her mother when they visited emergency rooms. It held a list with her medication, information from each visit, results from past tests, the names of her current doctors, her insurance information, and would continue to haunt her, never able to escape the presence of that orange folder._

* * *

“I could live out here!” Currently Leah was riding her sparrow through the Cosmodrome. Her talk with the Speaker had gone over well, they mentioned saving the last city and something about fighting the darkness before sending her back to Old Russia to fight off more Fallen and a new enemy called the Hive. It had been a few weeks of this, and the Vanguard were calling it the Beta phase for new guardians. In the next few months they were expecting more guardians to join their ranks. Leah had finished her Earth missions and was enjoying the fact that most Guardians went to Skywatch for the loot cave, leaving her to use the planes in the Mothyards as a ramp. She could and did spend hours with her helmet off, jumping planes and relaxing in a place she considered safe.

After spending her morning flying around the Mothyards she parked behind one of the planes facing the sea. Her feet rested on the steering system as she laid back against the seat reading a book, and avoiding ghost in the background. “Leah, she has tried to call you twice, and I know you aren’t so engrossed in your book that you can’t hear me.”

Leah groaned and pushed the aviator sunglasses down the bridge of her nose to look at Ghost floating to the left of her. “Did you take a message?” She already knew the answer, but if Ghost was going to bother her about not talking to Kaeya then she was going to annoy them.

“I’m not your personal assistant.” The top piece of Ghost’s structure lowered into what was considered a glare from the small robot. “But, she wanted to remind you that you have a follow up appointment today.”

“Not going.” With that she pushed the glasses back over her eyes and went back to her book. The discussion stopped at that point, as Ghost scoffed and sent a quick message back to Kaeya. They spent the rest of the day in silence, which was not a problem for Leah. It meant more time for her to read, ride, and relax without Ghost annoying her further. Later she would face the music with Kaeya.

Most of the Mothyards was flat with slight hills, the carcasses of long dead planes scattered across the terrain, but on two sides it had much larger hills, and one of those led up to the building that connected the Mothyards to the Skywatch. It also had the much smaller building that Leah was currently sitting on the roof of, her legs kicking freely, and a packed lunch resting near her thigh as she ate lunch letting the cool air from the sea slowly blow against her, bringing with it a feeling of calm. In the city, there were so many people in such a small space, but out here she was alone and could breathe.

Her calm didn’t last long. Guardians were driving by to get to the Loot Cave and she needed to check in with the Vanguard to confirm her training with Zavala. “Let’s go back.” Ghost summoned her ship and the two returned to the Last City.

Everything was set for the next day, she would start her one on one training with the Vanguard if she survived Kaeya. Leah looked at the door to their apartment and kicked the ground. She had changed out of her armor and into civilian clothes a white V-neck long sleeve shirt rolled above her elbow, a brown vest, skinny jeans, combat boots, and a belt that attached to a holster around her thigh holding her hand cannon, but keeping the sunglasses from earlier on. Ghost rolled their eye and pushed against Leah shoulder. “Afraid?”

“No, just trying to think of every option for the argument I know is going to happen.” She pushed the door open and spotted Kaeya on the couch surrounded by paperwork. If she was quiet, maybe Leah could…

“You didn’t show up to your appointment.” Kaeya didn’t look up from her paperwork. Her hair covering her face like a curtain, as she wrote something down.

“Didn’t feel like going. I feel fine”

“It doesn’t matter if you feel fine. The Vanguard wants Guardians to have routine checkups for their mental and physical health. You went to the first few, why haven’t you gone to the past three?”

Leah sighed, took off her sunglasses and walked over to the free chair in the living room. “I don’t like hospitals.”

“It’s for your health.” Kaeya finally looked up from her work, and pushed her hair back so she could see Leah. “You were born in a different time, died, and now you’re alive again. The Vanguard wants to make sure you are adjusting well.”

“How about we have the appointment now? No hospitals, no rushing staff.” 

Kaeya sighed and rolled her eyes. “I’m not your doctor Leah.” Her voice raised as she started to get frustrated. “You go to the hospital because they keep track of your history, and I already have patients to look after.”

“Then no checkups for me.” Leah twirled her sunglasses and looked at the ceiling.

“Why are you so adamant about avoiding hospitals?”

Leah paused for a moment, deciding how to handle the situation. With a wink and finger guns she said “It won’t work for me, you see, no other doctor can use a stethoscope on me, because my heart beats only for you.” Kaeya rolls her eyes and glares at Leah. Leah’s attempt to distract through humor not working. After a few minutes of silence and Leah forcing herself not to squirm under Kaeya’s glare, Leah sighs and explains. “I spend the last years of my life in hospitals, died in one, and it makes me uncomfortable to go back to them.”

Kaeya’s glare subsided. She looked at her paperwork and thought of what to do. From what little she knew about Leah, she would continue to skip out on her checkups. “Fine, we can conduct your checkups here, but I’ll demand more of them.”

“Cool, when do we start Doc?”

Kaeya pinched the bridge of her nose and paused before replying. “We start now. Do you agree to let Ghost speak with me on your status as well?”

“Sure, why not, they always have something to say about me. Why stop them now?”

Ghost leisurely floated over to Kaeya and spoke in a bored tone. “She has been having nightmares.” Then they turned and the top part of his shell lowered angrily at Leah, most likely getting revenge for earlier.

“What? That’s not…how are you already snitching on me? It’s been 3 seconds!”

“Ms. Leah, I’m only informing your doctor of a problem that I believe should be looked at. If you refuse to go to the hospital, then Dr. Ymir should remain informed on your condition.”

“Et tu, Brute?” Leah sighed dramatically and moved forward on the chair. With Ghost here to talk about what they see, it felt as though she was being attacked. Her leg started to bounce on its own, and her hands at her sides gripped the edge of the couch. Kaeya made note of Leah’s apprehension and raised a brow, waiting to see if Leah would admit to the nightmares or make Kaeya force it out of her.

“I can manage.” Once the word 'manage' left her mouth Leah cringed. It brought back a flood of memories. In her previous life, when people stopped asking her how she was doing and instead asked her how she was managing it had shifted her perspective on herself. At that point she felt less human and more an amalgamation of the diseases she had. The looks of pity, worry, and discussions on her short future would only make that feeling worse.

Kaeya pushed her papers together, cleaning up her mess and pulling out a notebook to write on. She moved on the couch so that she was leaning against the arm closest to Leah. It was obvious that Leah wasn’t comfortable talking about any of this, but Kaeya was going to try. “Why are you so uncomfortable talking to me?” She placed the notebook on her lap and looked at Leah. Leah was still gripping the chair, leg bouncing, and her brows pulled down in thought.

“In my previous life, I had people who would rely on me. They would tell me their problems, and come to me for help, searching for support. Then if I turned around searching for the same from them they wouldn’t understand. It was as if my problems weren’t important…eventually I learned to keep it to myself.” Her hands relaxed for a moment and her leg stopped fidgeting.

“There is no judgment here, Leah. You’re in a safe space. Here, I won’t be your doctor, I’ll be your friend.” Kaeya put away the notebook and gave Leah a small comforting smile. She wouldn’t be her official doctor, but as her roommate she still needed to look out for her.  

Safe space…Leah looked at Kaeya and smiled. “Ok, I could use a friend.” She brought her feet up, sitting cross-legged on the chair and placing her hands in her lap. “The nightmares aren’t too bad. One is reoccurring from before and others are bad memories from before.”

“The reoccurring one, it’s staid with you? How often has it happened since you’re return?”

“Only a few times, Ghost makes it seem like I’ve only had nightmares, but it’s been maybe one fourth of my nights here.”

“You never talk about where you lived before you died.” Honestly, Leah didn’t talk about her past with anyone. After passing out in their first meeting Kaeya tried to learn more about Leah’s medical history, but the woman didn’t want to tell her about anything. She kept busy and avoided being in the apartment unless it was bringing back takeout for the two.

Leah started wringing her hands in her lap, and bit her lip. This was the leap of faith for her. It was a simple question, but she knew once she opened up it would be hard for her to push Kaeya out. She sighed, stopped biting her lip and her hands calmed. “I lived in many different places. My father worked in the United States Military, and that required moving from place to place. I was born on a Japanese naval base, and died in a hospital in Texas, a state in the United States. Other than that, I only ever lived in one big city, everything else was rural areas. My father liked owning land, and my mother liked to take us to national parks, museums, hiking, and exploring. It worked for a little while.”

Kaeya noticed a change in Leah. When she spoke, it wasn’t just with a sadness from memories of missing the people she spoke of, it was as if the memories themselves were a bittersweet experience. “What was your family like?”

The change before had been slight, but now Kaeya felt uncomfortable watching Leah close up. Leah looked down at her hands in her lap, hunching over herself and closing her eyes. “That’s uh…I think that’s all I have for today. Thank you.” She pushed herself up and walked to her room, closing the door, and leaving Kaeya and Ghost in the living room. Once alone, Leah sat on the floor near her bed, bringing her knees up, resting her arms on the tops of her knees, and hiding her face in her hands. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for giving this a read, and hope that you enjoy! It's my first fan fic, so if you have any advice feel free to leave a comment.


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